Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 5.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded down 5.7% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $510.00 to $500.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $407.38 and last traded at $408.00. 16,373,466 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 20,231,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.53.

MSFT has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $420.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.11%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.